Sakai will head to Adelaide after riding for his boss, leading Japanese trainer Yoshito Yahagi, at Kyoto on Sunday and is expected to partner at less three of Balfour’s horses at Balaklava on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old, who claims 1½kg in both provincial and metropolitan grade, will be based at Balfour’s Morphettville stable for at least three months, with a chance his stay could be extended through the spring.

“He’s going to be a great addition to our stable at a very good time,” Balfour said.

“I really like the way he rides.

“He’s got good hands, he’s strong and he can use the whip in both hands without a problem. He’s an impressive young rider.

“Winter is the time for these apprentices to shine and to have a rider of Ryusei’s quality is a real bonus for our stable.”

Sakai has built an impressive record in Japan, winning 68 races and more than $10m in prizemoney. He will head to Adelaide on a bright note after winning the feature Keyaki Stakes on the Yahagi-trained Dream Kirari at Tokyo on Saturday. Star Australian jockey Hugh Bowman finished fourth in the same race.

It will be Sakai’s second stint in SA after enjoying good success earlier in the year when based with Phillip Stokes.

He won five races here, including a Morphettville victory on the Stokes-trained Captain Duffy in late March, as well as both the Penong and Streaky Bay Cups on It’s Humphrey.

Balfour, third on the state training premiership and fourth on the metropolitan ladder, plans to have the bulk of his team at their peak over winter.

“I don’t like the cold but I’m looking forward to these horses coming through over the next few weeks,” he said.

“The autumn was always going to be a quieter period for us. Hopefully as our team develops we’ll have more carnival horses but, for the time being, we have to try to place our horses where we think they can win.

“We’ve got some lovely unraced two-year-olds that will start to hit the track late in the season or early next season and I’ve bought some more precocious yearlings at the sales this year that hopefully will be early runners and flow us through to the spring.”

Balfour confirmed quality gallopers like Balf’s Choice, Mystified and Cashed would race through the winter, with Sakai booked to ride Balf’s Choice in a 1550m Benchmark 90 race at Morphettville on Saturday.